I’ve always kept my hands in a bit of IT, taking computers apart, putting them back and fixing software problems. It’s always been a hobby of mine that I thought that I could turn into a career because it was something that I was quite passionate about.
I’m not a big risk taker at all. It took me nearly a year and a half to sit and say ‘I’ll go for Open Uni’ because I was going through everything that could go wrong in my head … if I’ve got one clear path, then I can consider it, and if it’s still an option for about three to four months then I can sit and say that’s maybe an option then. It has to go through a rigorous amount of all the bad situations that can happen. You’ve just got to go through all the situations and all the scenarios that could happen … because this is the biggest jump I’ve taken – to go part time, doing that, and then doing uni.
Positive factors | Possible difficulties |
---|---|
More time available | Lack of time |
Good health | Poor mental health, poor physical health |
Communication skills | Unpredictability of caring role |
Flexible | No childcare |
Resilience | Lack of confidence |
Adaptability | Lack of transport |
Knowing what I want to do | I don’t know what I want to do |
Maturity | No space to study |
Ability to manage and juggle different activities | Financial worries |
Supportive employer | Inflexible employer |
Open to try new things | Don’t know where to go for help |
Good support network | Lack of support networks – family live far away |